The last obstacle in the transaction that will send Doc Rivers to the Clippers is/was contractual.And entirely understandable.By the time you read this, Rivers may have worked out the last details of a pact that will make him the coach and give him significant power over player personnel decisions — though not the power to control owner Donald T. Sterling, which is why a deal that was essentially agreed to last week with a good measure of fine print still needed more hammering.

The final Doc-ument (sorry for that one; we’re getting a little punchy) will seek to avoid the troubles of those who came before him. Instead of having to go to court to enforce provisions of the contract, sources say it will include an arbitration clause that will put disputes before a high league official. Maybe the highest.You may criticize Rivers for deciding to leave the Celtics just as the going figures to get distinctly more difficult, but the man is no fool.He knows the Clippers.He played for the Clippers.He understands history.In fact, according to a source close to Rivers, he was getting pulled hard in different directions last week as the Celtics and Clippers were largely wasting time in negotiations that should have taken all of an hour.